The Dalles Blue Zones Project, a community wellness endeavor, has asked to extend its funding deadline to August, and hopes to band together with two other Blue Zones Projects in the state to seek grant funds.

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce 2019 Man of the Year, Tim McGlothlin, paid tribute to his wife Laura at the chamber’s annual awards banquet Thursday. McGlothin was one of eight honorees at the annual event. Woman of the Year was Eileen White; Mary Gailley and her business, Helping Hands Home Care NW, were business of the year; David Wagenblast won Outstanding Agricultural Achievement; Katie Ortega was Educator of the Year; the Wasco County Dispatch Center was Outstanding First Responder; Jake Dollarhide was Outstanding Youth of the Year; and Corliss Marsh was Volunteer of the Year.

Completely gone is the notorious downtown bar, The Vault, and in its place, opening in mid-January, is the Last Stop Saloon, a midscale family-friendly restaurant and bar with soaring ceilings and original historic brickwork.

In December, The Port of The Dalles awarded consultant Matthew Buck a contract to develop a comprehensive feasibility study for a Food Learning and Business Center in The Dalles., according to Andrea Klaas, port executive director. The project will be funded in part by a grant from USDA Rural Development.

The new 33-lot Park Place development near Sorosis Park, featuring views of two mountains and The Dalles’ cityscape, is breaking ground in January, with move-in dates next summer. The first phase of Park Place will have 13 homes and the second will have 20.

As was predicted when a multi-county regional government entity dissolved earlier this year, the fate of a $3.9 million reserve fund for building codes services has ended up being a key point of contention. The state wants Wasco County to decide whether it will take over building codes services before the state starts the difficult task of figuring out how to divide the reserve among the counties.

The Bistro at Water’s Edge will be closed and the physical therapy gym space shifted around to make way for an urgent care clinic, Mid-Columbia Medical Center announced. Plans are to put the clinic where the physical therapy performance gym is now, on the south side of the first floor of the Water’s Edge facility.

President Donald J. Trump has proclaimed Wednesday, Dec. 5 as a national day of mourning throughout the United States. The Postal Service will observe the national day of mourning and suspend delivery service on that date. Due to this decision, the Wednesday Chronicle will be delivered on Thursday.

Interested in working in the city of Wasco? Community Counseling Solutions (CCS) is actively recruiting for staff at a planned 14-bed childrens’ diversion center that would employ 50 people, the final requirement in receiving construction approval for the facility, according to Carol Olmstead of the Wasco Event Center, which is working with CCS on the project.

Wade Delco’s full-time job these days is recovering from a Nov. 14 fire that destroyed his business, Wamic Auto Parts, one of only two businesses in town. He is rebuilding but doesn’t know when he’ll reopen. The fire, which started about 9 p.m., caused a total loss.

The Gorge Academy of Cosmetology’s slogan is “creating beauty inside and out” and that doesn’t only apply to making people look fabulous. Owner Kerri Weed and her husband Tom have rehabbed the inside of the circa 1890s building at 422 E. 2nd St.—where they peeled up five layers of flooring to reveal the original, rich wood flooring—and are now working to do the same on the outside.

One Community Health has been awarded $99,631 by one of its two major funders, the Health Resources and Services Administration/Bureau of Primary Health Care. In addition, the Columbia Gorge Coordinated Care Organization’s Regional Quality Pool provided $302,900 in funding for the year, an increase of $80,800 compared to the award given in 2017.

Callie Thysell was more than a little overwhelmed Thursday as she sat with representatives of Bicoastal Media and Griffith Motors, working through the details of making this year’s “Wheels of Hope” car, a 2007 Toyota Camry from Griffith Motors, her own. “It’s an exciting thing, I’m just trying to take it all in,” she explained.

Wasco County has rescinded its tentative decision not to take on building codes services now that it has learned services would probably be moved to Pendleton and a large local cash reserve could be lost. Building codes services had been provided for years by the now-disbanded Mid-Columbia Council of Governments (MCCOG), a five-county entity that operated out of The Dalles and closed shop earlier this year.

Welding students at Columbia Gorge Community College’s campus in The Dalles will have an expanded array of equipment to work with thanks to a $12,900 donation from Union Pacific Foundation. The contribution will be used to purchase additional “stick” welders as well as more advanced equipment used in alloy welding.

The Dalles City Council declined to make a contribution to the local Blue Zones Project, saying its budget for the year was already established, but invited the community wellness program to apply next year. The dilemma for the Blue Zones Project, however, is that it is facing a January deadline to show it has a local commitment of $197,000 to keep the three-year program operational, said Dr. Mimi Mcdonell, who chairs the group’s sustainability committee.

The Dalles officially dedicated its new “Oregon is Magic” mural, depicting an “only slightly exaggerated” salmon leaping over a raft of visitors, Saturday morning. “The exciting thing about it was, this was not your normal mural that you see in The Dalles, but when the opportunity came to us, we engaged with the mural society, and showed them what it was; they got on board,” said City of The Dalles Mayor Steve Lawrence.

Lilo’s Hawaiian BBQ in The Dalles never tasted so delicious — and it’s got nothing to do with this local restaurant’s savory, healthy dishes. Lilo’s is now offering lunchtime deliveries, providing hot meals for meetings and more, with the help of its new delivery carriers: clients of Opportunity Connections.

A jobs fair is set for 6:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 29, in Wasco to test the waters for how many people might be qualified for or interested in working at a planned 14-bed childrens’ diversion center that would employ 50 people. The center would house kids in family crisis who need a safe, temporary respite until they’re returned home or to another safe arrangement, said Mike Smith, who has been working for over 18 months to bring the facility and its jobs to Wasco.

Mid-Columbia Medical Center has been awarded a 2018 Top Workplaces honor by The Oregonian. That list is based solely on employee feedback gathered through the third-party survey administered last April by Energage, LLC, a provider of technology-based employee engagement tools.

The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce invites community members to nominate businesses and individuals for recognition at the chamber’s annual banquet on Jan. 17, 2019. Nominations are due Dec. 7 at the chamber. Self-nominations will not be accepted.

The Dalles economy is poised to get yet another shot in the arm with the recent sale of an iconic local hotel. The Shilo Inn, situated along one of the more spectacular views of the Columbia River and Dalles Dam, sold for $9.2 million. And major renovations are planned for the 112-room hotel built in 1974 near the Gulick Homestead and Indian Shaker Church.

Do you know an active, passionate community member who would be willing to be a voice for our business community? Do you think they would serve well as a board director for The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce? The Chamber is inviting members to take an active part in the nomination process for Board of Directors elections.

A Gorge Economic Symposium is planned Friday, Nov 2, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Civic Auditorium in The Dalles. The annual event, organized by Mid-Columbia Economic Development District (MCEDD), was created to share economic and employment trends at the regional and county level.

The Blue Zones Project, a three-year community wellness endeavor now in its second year in The Dalles, is about $82,000 short of local funding for this year, but an appeal will be made to the city next month. Dr. Miriam McDonell will ask The Dalles City Council at its Sept. 24 meeting to review information presented by Blue Zones, and then will come back to its Oct. 8 meeting to request funding.

It’s hard not to do a double-take when you walk past Lisa Chambers — it isn’t everyone who wears a T-shirt with “Got Worms?” emblazoned across the front. She comes by the reference honestly. Chambers raises worms in the backyard of her East 11th Street home.

The Dalles Salvation Army Thrift Store reopened at noon last Friday, with a ribbon cutting ceremony provided by The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce and plenty of eager shoppers on hand to celebrate a remodel.

The Dalles Fitness & Court Club has a new name to go along with major changes in programs and renovations of the Pomona Street facility. The local gym is now called Gorge Athletic Clubs, the same name given the Hood River Sports Club, which is also owned by Clark and Carol Emmerson.

Dave Nevins has been hired as Director of Tourism for The Dalles Area Chamber of Commerce. “We are very excited to have Dave join us and we are looking forward to the energy and tourism experience he will bring to our staff,” said Lisa Farquharson, executive director of the chamber.

“Grow with Google, The Dalles” attracted over 200 registrants to the Fort Dalles Readiness Center Wednesday with a range of free classes and multimedia presentations about services and experiences in Google products. The event replaces “Googlefest.”

GOLDENDALE — A first-of-its-kind disposable artist’s palette for amateur painters, art educators and others is being marketed by Toss Products LLC, a startup company located in Goldendale. Paint Plates is the name of a palette made in the U.S. from 100 percent recycled paper that is the brainchild of Felicia Gray, a local painter and art teacher.

Olympia Davis, 11, tries a 3-D viewer. The large touch screen seen in the background displays a web page used with the viewer. They were exploring a multimedia booth at "Grow with Google" with Kathryn Davis Wednesday morning. The event continues until 6 p.m.

One Community Health (OCH) will break ground Thursday to replace its current health center in Hood River. The groundbreaking and ribbon-cutting ceremony, an invitation open to the public, takes place from 9:30-10 a.m. at 849 Pacific Ave. The future facility will be located just east of the current Hood River site and on the same property, which has served as OCH’s Hood River home since 1991.

The radio stations of Bicoastal Media, Griffith Motors and Washington Gorge Action Programs are teaming up again this year to help a Columbia Gorge family in need. “Wheels Of Hope” will provide a deserving family lacking transportation options a vehicle to help them meet their daily travel needs.

Rose Mays has only been at the Small Business Development Center in The Dalles for a year, but she already feels she has found a place to call home, doing a job she loves. “I help people who are starting a business, or who are in business and have a problem,” she said.

The Dalles Chronicle’s managing editor, RaeLynn Ricarte, won two first place awards in the 2018 Oregon Newspaper Publisher’s Association contest and Byron Gibson, who works in composition, scored first for graphic design. News editor Mark Gibson and reporters Neita Cecil and Ray Rodriguez also received awards at the ONPA’s annual banquet in July.

A class action lawsuit against AmeriTies alleging that odors from the plant diminished the use and value of area properties has reached a proposed settlement of $1.25 million. Almost all of The Dalles is included in the boundaries covered by the settlement, according to a map posted on the website of one of the law firms involved.

Wasco County is the second organization in The Dalles to earn a designation as a Blue Zones Project approved worksite. It will celebrate with a blue ribbon cutting ceremony 2:30 p.m. Friday on the steps of the courthouse, at 511 Washington St.